Lights are often needed underwater. Boats and other structures that are at least partially submerged under water are often required to either signal their presence, using lights or to illuminate the surrounding area. In some cases, lights of different colors may be needed as part of the signaling. Lights of the same color may be used for illumination or signaling by varying color temperature.
Providing lighting underwater presents several problems. The most obvious is the need to provide electrical power to the lights in a medium that is a conductor of electricity. For example, lights may be required on the portion of the hull of a boat that is submerged underwater. While it may be possible to seal the lights in a waterproof chamber, providing power to the lights would require breaching the hull and wiring electrical power through holes to the lights from a power source inside the boat. It is also possible, though rather impractical, to provide a separate power source on the outside of the hull.
Where multi-colored lights are to be used, a further problem exists in communicating what color to use. In some examples, separate communication lines are used to select a different color light, or multiple lights of different colors are separately powered to light as provided from inside the structure. Color selection typically requires added wiring through the breach in the structure.
There is a need for a lighting system having lights on the submerged portion of a structure in water that are powered by electrical power inside the boat without requiring the breaching of the wall between the inside and outside of the structure.